Earlier this year New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pulled the National Guard troops from our southern border in protest of President Trump’s “charade of border fear-mongering.”
“I reject the federal contention that there exists an overwhelming national security crisis at the Southern border,” the Democrat governor adamantly stated for the media at the time, as she added that the southern U.S. border boasts “some of the safest communities in the country”
Three months have passed since that day, and many things have changed, including her attitude.
Last week, during a visit to Washington, the Gov. reportedly requested that the federal government reimburse communities in her state for the money they’ve expended taking care of the illegals aliens who were able to cross the unsecured southern border and set up shop in their communities.
She also reportedly complained about the Trump administration’s decision to pull U.S. Border Patrol agents from interior checkpoints along the southern border in New Mexico.
“The governor wants to continue to urge the federal government to increase its personnel on the border as a means of improving the logistical and communications output,” a spokesperson with the governor’s office said to local station KOAT.
The withdrawal has apparently caused some problems, with one of the state’s border counties having been forced last month to declare a state of emergency and issue a request that Gov. Grisham immediately redeploy the National Guard to the southern border.
“If this demand is not met by the State of New Mexico in one week’s time, the County of Otero will take action itself to provide security and safety and well-being for the people in this county,” Otero County Commission chairman Couy Griffin stated at the time.
“Otero County will also consider litigation in regards to the State of New Mexico failing to follow its constitutional duties towards the people of Otero County.”
The governor’s office essentially dismissed the county’s concerns.
“If Otero County officials are unhappy that a federal checkpoint has been un-manned, so to speak, their concerns would have the best chance of being addressed if registered with the federal agency that made the decision to shift that personnel elsewhere,” they said in a statement at the time.
“At the same time, Otero County is absolutely free to reach out to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for whatever assistance they feel they need, which as of today had not occurred.”
It is not clear whether the New Mexico governor realizes that what officials from Otero County had been saying matched perfectly with what President Trump had been saying.
Nor whether she realizes the hypocrisy of her now asking for money and personnel after having dismissed the border crisis and mocked President Trump’s attempts to build a wall.
After she pulled the National Guard from the border in February, the Gov. made an appearance on MSNBC and yet again dismissed the indisputable crisis along the border. She also took shots at former New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, for having bought into the crisis narrative.
“While the former governor did comply with that request, and when there is a real national emergency, I would make the same decision. ….,” she stated dismissively.
“But this is not a national emergency. We are spending $30 million on our troops deployment there. And that’s money he’s taking out of things I really do need in this state.” She added.
“She declares there’s no crisis. She removes the National Guard and now she’s there asking for money,” failed 2018 Republican New Mexico gubernatorial nominee Steve Pearce, the current chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, said in exasperation to KOAT.
“Everything in her actions indicate that she believes there’s a crisis, but yet she will not dedicate the resources or request to her colleagues in Congress to start passing the laws that will change the situation there.”
If Grisham continues to do nothing and just beg the feds for money and resources, chances are “[t]he border communities are going to continue to be overrun,” Pearce added.
As it looks, her constituents do not approve of the Governors handling of what is clearly a crisis on our southern border: